Rotating machinery, such as gas and steam turbines, are used in many applications. Typically, gas turbines and steam turbines include rotors. A rotor includes a plurality of blades and a shaft. In some examples, the movement of a fluid may induce rotation of the plurality of blades resulting in rotation of the shaft. Alternatively, rotation of the shaft may induce rotation of the plurality of blades resulting in movement of the fluid.
Typically a rotor of a turbine in a turbine engine includes a shroud assembly formed out of mutually engaged shrouds. A typical shroud is a block or a plate that is formed and/or mounted on a tip of a blade, and is configured to mutually engage with a substantially identical shroud mounted on an adjacent blade. Multiple shrouds mounted on the tips of a plurality of blades mutually engage with one another to form an annular rotating component around the plurality of blades. The annular rotating component in one example is the shroud assembly. During operation of the plurality of blades, the shroud assembly also rotates with the blades.
A portion of the shroud assembly or one or more shrouds in the shroud assembly may get damaged due to metal fatigue, or other reasons. The damage may result in gaps in the shroud assembly. For example, a piece of the shroud assembly may fall off and/or shift out of alignment, a portion of the shroud assembly may deflect in an undesirable way, and/or other types of undesirable effects may occur. While conventional systems exist to monitor clearance between the shroud assembly and an outer casing surrounding the shroud assembly, such monitoring systems do not account for damages and defects in the shroud assembly.